CPS Energy sued over death.
Man says wife, 63, was found in bed one day after their home lost power
CPS Energy has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit by the husband of a woman who died during last month’s winter storm.
Jesus Rodriguez alleges in the complaint that he found his wife, Ann, dead in bed on Feb. 17, a day after their home lost power. She was 63.
“On information and belief, Ann Elizabeth Rodriguez died of the extreme cold inside her home, which was caused as a direct result of the power outage,” the lawsuit states.
In its final finding, the medical examiner’s office ruled Rodriguez’s probable cause of death as cardiovascular disease with hypertension and hyperlipidemia, which is a high concentration of fats, or lipids, in the blood. The manner of death was deemed natural.
Jesus Garcia Jr., a Houston lawyer representing Jesus Rodriguez, said they’ll be able to learn more during discovery.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of that,” Garcia said of her cause of death. “There are many times we get one finding from the coroner’s office or medical examiner that’s incorrect.”
San Antonio litigator Mikal Watts also is part of Rodriguez’s legal team.
Jesus Rodriguez, 69, seeks more than $1 million in damages from the San Antonio utility, though he wants a jury to determine the “fair amount of compensation.” His lawsuit was filed Monday in state District Court in San Antonio and follows similar lawsuits filed around the state in the aftermath of a winter storm that brought frigid temperatures and widespread power outages. Watts’ firm filed a lawsuit against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator, on behalf of the family of a Houston man who died of hypothermia.
A CPS Energy spokesperson said the city-owned utility doesn’t comment on litigation.
“This was 100% preventable,” Garcia said in a statement. “CPS Energy and others could have increased electric production capacity in the San Antonio region in the days and weeks leading up to the February 2021 cold weather event.”
Garcia added CPS Energy had known for years that it needed to winterize its energy sources to prevent cold-weather failures, “but consciously chose not to do so.”
CPS Energy cannot say it’s shielded from the action by sovereign immunity, the lawsuit says, because Jesus Rodriguez’s claims arise out of its “operation and
maintenance of a public utility.”
Jesus Rodriguez and his wife shared a home on South Cibolo Street on the West Side, the Bexar Appraisal District’s website shows. They bought the house in 2018.
Power went out in the Rodriguez home on the morning of Feb. 16, so the couple had no heat, the suit says. Outdoors, temperatures remained below freezing throughout the day, ranging from 14 to 28 degrees, according to Accuweather’s website. As a result, the suit adds, the temperature inside the house plummeted.
Besides his wrongful death claim, Jesus Rodriguez is suing CPS Energy for gross negligence for failing to prevent interruptions of service.
The suit says he’s entitled to recover punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish…cps Energy and deter others from engaging in similar conduct.”